A Swedish appeals court has upheld a guilty verdict and life sentence given to a former Iranian official convicted last year for his part in a mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.
In 2022, the Stockholm District Court ruling found Hamid Noury guilty of murder and serious crimes against international law, drawing strong criticism from Iran, which said the verdict was politically motivated.
Court of Appeals Judge Robert Green said: “Our assessment is that the prosecutor's case is robust and compelling overall, and that the District Court was correct to find the prosecutor's charges largely substantiated.”
The 1988 executions were allegedly ordered by then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini in retaliation for attacks by the opposition People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), as well as other political dissidents.
Noury is the only person so far to face trial over the killings at the Gohardasht prison in Karaj.
The case has caused a deep rift between Sweden and Iran.
Earlier this month, an Iranian court opened the trial of a Swedish European Union employee arrested in 2022 while on holiday in the country.
Johan Floderus is charged with spying for Israel and "corruption on earth," a crime that carries the death penalty.
Sweden has requested his immediate release, calling the detention arbitrary.
Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was arrested in Iran in 2016, also faces execution on espionage charges.
Mark Klamberg, a professor of international law and senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, stressed that Tuesday's verdict would likely be appealed to Sweden's Supreme Court either way and any potential deal would need to await a final ruling.
Klamberg said a prisoner swap could be done two ways.
“The government could pardon Noury...But I don't think that will happen, it's politically impossible,” Klamberg told AFP.
More likely, provided Stockholm would want a swap, would be for Sweden and Iran to agree that Noury must serve the rest of his sentence in Iran – which in practice would likely mean that he would be a free man once he returned.
However, Klamberg noted that political considerations would then come into play.
For instance, agreeing could encourage Iran to continue with its policy of taking foreign citizens as hostages to use as bargaining chips, he said.
Klamberg said that for some victims it was important that Noury serve his sentence, while for others it may be just as important the Swedish court actually established in an authoritative manner what had happened in the 1980s, a judgment which is unique in itself.
“I think an important aspect for the Swedish government is how (a prisoner swap) would be received by the victims,” Klamberg said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom has declined to comment on the possibility of a prisoner swap.
